Building and air distributing structure



June 6, 1961 B. E. CURRAN 2,987,328

BUILDING AND AIR DISTRIBUTING STRUCTURE Filea March 15, 1957 5 sheets-sheet 1 BY MRm/.dlz

ATTORNEY FIG. 6

June 6, 1961 B. E. CURRAN 2,987,328

BUILDING AND AIR DISTRIBUTING STRUCTURE Filed March 15, 1957 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG.2

AT TORNEY B. E. CURRAN 2,987,328

BUILDING AND AIR DISTRIBUTING STRUCTURE 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 2501.... 15. sin?. "lll, 1.7! .i

June 6, 1961 Filed March l5, 1957 ATTORNEY United States Patent O 2,987,328 BUILDING AND AIR DISTRIBUTING STRUCTURE Bernard E. Curran, Sewickley, Pa., assignor to H. H. Robertson Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Mar. 15, 19.57, Ser. No. 646,317 1 Claim. (Cl. 285-19) This invention yrelates to a building and air distributing structure and more particularly to a buiding and air conditioning structure of the type forming the subject matter of United States patent to R. P. Goemann, No. 2,729,429, dated January 3, 1956.

The Goemann patent discloses a building and air conditioning and distributing system and apparatus wherein cellular Ymetal oors yform the load supporting structure at each of selected stories of a multi-story building, and the present invention has for an object to providenovel apparatus which may be used with advantage in connecting an air supply header extended beneath the cellular metal oor lto the underside of the conducting cells of the multicellular door.

A further object of the invention is to provide novel connecting apparatus of the character specified which is of a construction adapted for plant manufacture and field assembly of the components of the connecting appar-attrsy in an'eicient and economical manner.

"With these. general objects in view and such others as may hereinafter appear, the -invention consistsrin the connecting apparatus hereinafter described and particularly'dened-in the claims at the end of this specification.

In the drawings illustrating the preferred embodiment of the invention?y N FIG. l is a diagrammatic plan View of a portion of a cellular metal Vfloor wherein is conducted through selected door cells as shown in said Goemann patent above referred to;

`FIG. 2 is a transverse cross sectional view taken on the line 2-'2 oFIG. l; 'Y i 3 is a longitudinal crosssectional view taken on the line 3Q3 ofFIG. 2; Y

HG'. 4 is a -plan'view Iin cross section taken ogn the line of FIG. 3;

FIG.y 5 is a cross vsectional detail View of a mod iiied form of the present connecting apparatus; and

FIG. l6 Iis a vertical cross section-al view taken on the line 6 6 oFIG. `l'.

fe building and air conditioning and distributing structure forming -the subject matter ofthe Goemann patent above referred to `embodies 'a cellular metal oor of the type illustrated inV the patent to Young, No. 1,867,433, and wherein a multiplicity. ci air conducting cd1? fog il P5-Ut 0f 'the struciu'al 10a-d SBPPOI'II Fllhllal metal door itself. A's'illustrated in the Goemann patent, provision is made for supplying air, particularly conditioned air, to selected and a number of spaced air conducting oor cells, and the present invention is particularly concerned with novel connecting means or apparatus which may be used with advantage in making the connection between the air supply header ducts extended transversely of and `beneath the cellular metal oor and the underside of the air conducting cells of the door, In the various forms of the connecting means, herein illustrated, provision is made for simplifying the labor involved in field erection of the components and for facilitating the manufacture of the various components in the plant.

Referring now to the drawings, FIG. l illustrates in plan a portion of one story of a multi-story building embodying the air conditioning and distributing system Shown in the Goemann patent wherein hot and cold air ce .Patented June 6 196.1

2 ducts 10, 12 respectively are extended -through the service core of the building and are connected by longitudinally extended ducts 14, 16 and transversely extended ducts 18, 20 beneath the cellular metal oor to alternate air conducting cells 22, 24 of the door which in turn communicate directly with sill box outlets 26 arranged at righ-t angles to the air conducting cells or parallel to the end wall 28 of the building, the sill box outlets 30 arranged along the side wall 32 of the building being connected Ito the air conducting cells 22, 24 by transverse ducts 34, 36 which extend beneath the multicellular floor. The connections are extended upwardly through openings in the 4non-air carrying portions of the multicellular door,

In accordance with the present invention novel connecting apparatus is provided between the transversely extended air supply header ducts 18, 20 and the underside of alternate air conducting cells 22, 2,4. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, each connecting unit may comprise an upper angecl clamping unit, indicated generally at 38, f or cooperation with `an, opening 40 in the bottom wall 42 of an air conducting cell 2,2, 24; a lower anged clamping unit, indicated generally at 44, f or cooperation with an Opening 45 in the upper Wall 46 of anv air `supply header duct 1.8, 2.9, and Va vertical ,Sheet metal connecting Sleeve 48 secured to the danged connecting 3.8. 44 to provide 'airtight connection between the cells- As Shown in FIG. 3, the upper connecting unit 38, may comprise an inner hollow shoe plate 5,0 havingl a rectangular body portion in the Vform of an upright` rim or band and provided with an outwardly extended ange 52. at its upper end and an inwardly extended dang@ 5&4, at its lower end. The outwardly extended flange 5,2u is arranged to engage the inner Surface of the bottom wall 42. Surrounding the. Opening 40 with the body portion of. the. shoe plate 50 extended through the opening. The upper Connecting unit 38 also includes outer hollowv shoe plate 56 arranged to cooperate, with the inner shoe plate 50. The outer shoe plate 56 also comprises afrecz tangular body portion provided with an outwardly extended upper flange 58 and au inwardly extended lower flange 6I! andis arranged to tover theinner shoe plate in nes-ting relation; Wirth the upper dang@ 58 bearing against the outer wall surfaceV 42 surrounding the opening 4,0, ofthe air conducting cell. A gasket 62 may be interposed between the flange 5B and the bottom Wall toA render the joint airtight. 'I-'he llanged connecting unit 38 is secured to the ybottom wall 42 about the opening 40 by bolts 64 extended through clearanceV openings in, the inwardly extended lower dang@ 69 andv Cooperating With threaded Openings in the-inwardly extended lower` daags .5,4- The 'bolts Vare `tightened to, effect a clamping Qt the outwardly extended danses/,52.5.8111ainngntrelag tion about the opening 40.

The lower anged connecting unit 44 may comprise similar hollow inner and outer shoe plates 66, 68 having rectangular body portions in the form of upright bands, each shoe plate having outwardly extended bottom flanges 70, 72 for cooperation with the wall portions surrounding the opening 45 in the upper wall 46 of the air supply header duct 18, and having inwardly extended upper anges 74, 76 secured together by bolts 78 which extend through clearance openings in the inwardly extended iiange 76 and cooperate with threaded openings in the inwardly extended flange 74 to elect clamping of the outwardly extended bottom flanges 70, 72 about the opening 45. A gasket 80 may be provided between the ilange 70 and the outer surface of the header duct 18 to provide an airtight connection.

The upper and lower ends of the sheet metal connecting sleeve 48 are fitted over the upright body portions of the outer shoe plates 56, 68 and are preferably secured thereto by spot welding. In order to provide an airtight seam, a solder seal indicated at 83 may be provided be tween the ends of the sleeve 48 and the shoe plates 56, 68. As illustrated, a substantial thickness of sound insulation m-aterial 82 may be secured to the inner wall of the sleeve 48 prior to the assembly of the sleeve and shoe plates. The sleeve 48 with outer shoe plates 56, 68 secured thereto may be erected as a unit with the inner and outer shoe plates 50, 56 of the upper connecting unit 38, and the inner and outer shoe plates 66, 68 of the lower connecting unit 44 being secured together in the manner heretofore described.

.From the description thus far it will be seen that the anged connecting and clamping units 38, 44, together with the assembled connecting sleeve 48, are secured in airtight relation about their respective openings 40, 45

with the opening l40 in the air conducting cell 22 aligned vertically with the opening 45 in the air supply header duct 18. It will be observed that an important advantage of the present structure resides in the fact that the sleeve 48 may be produced in various lengths adapted to accommodate variations in vertical spacing between the header duct and the funderside of the cellular floor. -In practice during the erectionof the air distributing structure, the contractor may cut the sleeves to the Irequired length in the field, and the expedient of securing the ends of the sleeve to the relatively wide vertical band or rim portions of the outer shoe plates by means of spot welding and solder sealing provides a practical and convenient structure 'to accommodate such variations in vertical spacing. As illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 6, the parallel air supply header ducts 18, extended transversely of the cellular oor may be connected to alternate air conducting cells 22, 24 to supply air of different condition to the dual air discharge outlets or sill boxes 26, one of which is indi- 4 the opening in the cell. The upper end of the sleeve 48 is preferably seam welded to Ithe rectangular body of the shoe plate 84 further reinforcing the connecting structure to enable it to support the weight of the header duct suspended thereom. The openings in the inwardly extended ange 88 may beV eliminated, and such flange serves as a reinforcing member and also as a retaining flange for the sound absorbing insulation 82 applied to the inner wall of the sleeve as shown.

While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been herein illustrated and described, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied in other forms within the scope of the following claim.

inner `and outer shoe members arranged in nesting relation, -said shoe members having outwardly' extended anges at one end arranged to embrace the inner and outerY surfaces of the wall portions defining said openings, telescoping intermediate portions and spaced apart,

`t inwardly extended anges at their other ends, a hollow connecting sleeve member extended between said connecting units and secured to the rim portions of the outer shoe members, and bolt means disposed within said sleeve member and extending the inwardly extended anges to effect clamping of said outwardly extended lianges in cated in broken lines in FIG. 2, and the `air conducting cells 22, 24 may be further connected by transverse ducts 34, 36 to outlets or sill boxes 50 as shown in FIG. 1. It will be understood that the sheet met-al sleeves 48 Vandthe outlet connecting units 38, 44 to which they are secured serve to suspend the header ducts 18, 20 from the underside of cellular iloor and to support the weight of the header ducts therefrom.

- Referring now to FIG. 5, a modied form of outlet connecting unit vfor cooperation with the opening 40 in the underside of an air conducting cell 22 permits elimination of the inner shoe plate 50 and provides a relatively rigid supporting structure for suspending the weight of the header duct. As herein shown, the modified outlet connecting unit comprises an outer shoe plate 84 having a rectangular vertical body portion, an outwardly extended upper ilange 86 yand an inwardly vextended lower ange 88. The outwardly extended ange 86 is welded to the bottom wall 44 labout the opening 40 to provide an airtight seam and to serve as a reinforcement about airtight relation about their respective openings, thereby providing an airtight connection between the supply duct and air .carrying cell.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 570,405 Jerguson Oct. 27, 1896 943,891 Rathbuu Dec. 21, 1909 1,027,586 Breaker May 28, 1912 1,955,106 Von Normann Apr. 17, 1934 2,014,355 Hussman Sept. 10, 1935 2,344,582 Allee -Mar. 21, 1944 2,447,259 Lucke Aug. 17, 1948 2,518,426 Kinander Aug. 8, 1950 2,630,340 Gaylard et al. Mar. 3, 1953 2,695,182 Folz ..-i Nov. 23, 1954 2,729,429 Goemann Ian. 3, 1956 2,739,317 Abreach 2'7, 1956 v2,762,448 Schmid Sept. 11, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 193,147 Switzerland Feb. 1, 1938 Great Britain Apr. 29, 1943 

